The parents of Grand Bahama’s slain missing boys called for closure to the two-year long murder cases and demanded answers to why the remains of their sons have not yet been turned over to them for burial.
The families have been waiting on word from authorities on when their sons’ remains will be released since police confirmed that the missing youngsters were murdered.
New Providence native, Cordell Farrington, was charged in October 2003 with killing four of them as well as his best friend Jamaal Robbins.
Reginald Ferguson, assistant commissioner of police, told The Bahama Journal that while forensic investigations being carried out on the remains have taken an “inordinate” length of time, he could not confirm whether those remains will be released to the families immediately after the tests are completed.
“The police are equally as concerned [as the parents] in bringing closure to this matter as soon as we possibly could,” he said. “Unfortunately, The Bahamas does not have the kind of forensic facilities to deal with the situation the way we would like.
“We had to enlist the services of companies all the way in Washington to assist us with this investigation. It’s a complex matter because you are talking about skeletal remains of a number of persons and all those [remains] have to be analyzed [and] identified to try to determine which is which.”
Mr. Ferguson said forensic tests should be nearing completion, enabling prosecutors to go to the courts with the cases against Farrington.
Five school-aged boys on Grand Bahama – Jake Grant, Mackinson Colas, DeAngelo McKenzie, Junior Reme and Desmond Rolle – went missing between May and September of 2003.
One month after the last disappearance, Farrington reportedly turned himself into police and was later arraigned on five murder counts.
He pleaded not guilty to those charges in the Freeport Supreme Court the following year.
The family of Jamaal Robbins said the 21-year-old went missing back in May of 2002.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade revealed prior to Farrington’s initial arraignment that his alleged victims’ remains had been uncovered in remote areas of East Grand Bahama.
Nearly two years later, the families say the pain of their loss remains sharp.
Choking back tears on Tuesday, Marilyn Davis, DeAngelo’s grandmother and guardian, said her family is suffering.
“It’s been two years [so] they should bring up those cases and let us get on with our lives,” she said.
Mrs. Davis said she has tried on numerous occasions to get answers from the authorities on the status of her grandson’s remains, but got no response.
Claudette Mitchell, Mackinson’s mother, said the pain of not being able to bury her son will be made worse as she prepares to observe what she believes may be the anniversary of his death next Monday.
“I know May 16 will be hard for me,” she said staring down at the floor. “You don’t hear [anything] and you don’t know what’s going on and at least it would have been better if they could have given us the remains.”
While the families of the five boys continue to languish through a two-year ordeal, the mother of Farrington’s first alleged victim said her family’s three-year ordeal began when their loved one disappeared from home in 2002.
Patricia Scott’s initially calm demeanor quickly grew into indignation as she said, “My first son that got killed [four months prior to the disappearance] wasn’t as hard on me because I saw him. I put him down in the ground.
“But with Jamaal it’s different. I haven’t seen any remains. I don’t even know if police have all of his remains because I haven’t seen anything.”
Mrs. Scott, Robbins’ mother, said her son first met Farrington at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre in New Providence and had been friends up to his disappearance.
“His birthday would have been Saturday and he would have been 25,” she added. “It’s hurting, but it’s in the Lord’s hands and what will be, will be when He says it’s the time.”
Albertha Bartlett, chief counsel in the Attorney General’s office, recently told the Journal that authorities expect to try at least one of the murder cases against Farrington sometime this year.
By: Sharon Williams, The Bahama Journal
